Indians, Carrasco agree to contract extension

CLEVELAND — Carlos Carrasco has agreed to a contract extension and restructuring that could keep the right-hander in a Cleveland Indians uniform through at least the 2022 season.

Carrasco, 31, is set to make $9.75 million in 2019 after the Indians picked up the club option on a four-year deal he originally signed in 2015.

Financial terms of the restructuring were not announced, but according to a source, the native of Venezuela will get a salary bump to $10.25 million in 2020, and base salaries of $12M in both 2021 and 2022. A vesting option of $14M for 2023 is based on a predetermined number of innings pitched and carries a $3M buyout.

Carrasco went 17-10 in 2018 with a 3.38 ERA in 32 appearances including a career-high 231 strikeouts. In the last four seasons, he’s reached double-digits in wins and made at least 25 starts.

He ranks ninth in franchise history in career strikeouts (1,127) and second in club history in career strikeouts per nine innings pitched (9.3). Carrasco’s 5.3 fWAR in 2018 was tenth among MLB pitchers and his cumulative fWAR of 18.2 since 2015 ranks seventh among all major league pitchers.

Carrasco established the Carlos Carrasco Foundation in 2016, and along with his wife, Karelis, is active in the communities of Cleveland, Tampa and his native Venezuela. The couple collects food, clothes and books for children and those less fortunate. Carrasco has been selected as the Indians' nominee for MLB’s Roberto Clemente humanitarian award for the last four seasons.

Doby to get posthumous Congressional Medal

The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to give a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal to former Cleveland Indian Larry Doby, the second African American to join a major league baseball team, and the first to play in the American League.

Because the measure to honor Doby for his role integrating professional baseball passed the U.S. House of Representatives this summer, it now heads to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

“Larry Doby seldom receives credit for his role in integrating all of professional baseball and it’s past time to honor his contributions to both civil rights and America’s game,” said a statement from Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, whose Washington, D.C. office displays a replica of the Doby statue at Progressive Field. “Doby’s heroism surpasses his remarkable skill – he overcame discrimination and hostility to break barriers, leading Cleveland to victory and moving our country in the right direction.”

Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who cosponsored the gold medal legislation with Brown, described Doby as “a symbol for the fight for equality in our country” and said he “encouraged thousands of Ohioans and kids across our country to push the boundaries of what they thought possible.”

The House of Representatives version of the bill was sponsored by Wadsworth Republican Rep. Jim Renacci.

Doby was only the second African American to join a major league baseball team, after Jackie Robinson, who joined the National League’s Brooklyn Dodgers 11 weeks before Doby joined the Indians in 1947. The center fielder spent 12 years in the American League, was voted onto seven all-star teams, and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.

During his 13-year career in the American League, Doby tallied 1,533 games, batting .283, with 253 home runs and 970 runs batted in. He played in two World Series, leading the 1948 Cleveland Indians to a World Championship over the Boston Braves, Brown’s office said. He was the first African-American player to hit a home run in a World Series game and led the American League in home runs twice.

Doby, who died on June 18, 2003, at age 79, also became the second black manager of a baseball team when he was hired by the Chicago White Sox in 1978. The Cleveland Indians' Frank Robinson was the first black manager.

In addition to playing professional baseball, Doby was first black man to play professional basketball in the ABL, the NBA’s precursor league. After retiring from baseball, Doby served as director of community relations for the New Jersey Nets.

According to the Hall of Fame, Doby and Jackie Robinson both suffered indignities after breaking the race barrier, such as being forced to stay in separate hotels from teammates, and not being able to eat in the same restaurants on the road. But teammates eventually grew to accept them.

Congress has awarded over 300 gold medals since the American Revolution to express its appreciation for significant achievements. General George Washington was the first awardee. More recent medals were issued to Robinson, as well as golfer Jack Nicklaus and the Selma-Montgomery Freedom Marchers.